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Thursday, June 23, 2016

Kung Pao Lotus Root

Blog hopping is one of my favorite pastimes . And I find that I get to pick up a lot of stuff off the blogs these days. Being an avid reader myself, I can tell you that a few of them are so well researched that they may as well compete with books but for the fact that they are so concise. However that is fast turning into a advantage as people increasingly look for short reads to fill up the gaps in their schedule.

Be it when you are waiting for the cab to arrive or a friend to show up at the coffee shop, reading a short blog is just the right way to utilize that time. Of course, it is a matter of habit and one can as well read a book in that time, but I prefer to pick one when I am in a more relaxed setting and with enough time to cover a few chapters. Travelling to a foodie event a few weeks back, I was checking out some blogs to kill the time and take my attention off the crazy traffic at MG Road. And I found this blog called 'The Mala Project' . I liked one of the recipes but it was only when I read the brief about this blog, that I truly fell in love with it. Even though I may not be cooking Chinese on a particular day, I just pay a short visit to this blog and enjoy going through the posts.

Kung Pao Lotus Root is the only recipe that I have had the time to replicate in my kitchen and it turned out to be amazing. Even though I did not have a few ingredients mentioned in the list, I hardly found anything to be amiss. Hot, sweet, sour and spicy, this is a great option when you are in the mood to serve some vegan starters to your family .

Read on for the recipe -

Preparation Time - 15 mins

Ingredients -

100 gm lotus root ( Use one that is unblemished and thick )

3 tbsp chopped spring onions (greens only)

1 tsp chopped garlic (thin slices )

1 tsp chopped ginger ( thin slices )

3 dry red chili peppers ( medium heat ones )

2 tbsp roasted peanuts

1/3 tsp peppercorns

3 tbsp canola oil

For the sauce -

1 tsp thin soy sauce

2 tsp vinegar

1 tsp sugar

1 tsp cornflour

1/5 tsp salt (or to taste)

Preparation - Peel and slice the lotus root. Soak in water till you use them.

Take the soy sauce, vinegar, sugar, salt and cornflour in a cup . Add 2-3 tbsp water to the cup and mix into a thin paste.

Cooking - Heat the canola oil in a wok.

Remove the lotus root from water and dry them on paper towels. Shallow fry in small batches on medium flame till they turn brown on the edges.

Remove from wok and drain on paper towels.

Drain most of the oil from the wok leaving just about 1 tsp oil. Add the broken red peppers and peppercorns. Once they release their fragrance , add the spring onions, garlic and ginger. Fry for 2 mins without browning them.

Add the fried lotus root along with the sauce. Stir fry till the sauce thickens in consistency.

Finally add the peanuts, give it a toss and switch off the flame.

Serve hot.

Note - You can check out the original recipe HERE . I have skipped a few ingredients which are not available easily and substituted the chicken stock with vegetable stock to keep it vegan